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Boeing’s Tinseth dismisses “rumors”

Don’t believe “rumors” that the side-of-body fix for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner needs fixing, a company official said Saturday.

“We’ve talked here before about the proliferation of Web sites and blogs that often peddle supposed breaking news from ‘sources,'” Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, wrote on his blog. “And once again, while there are many industry writers, journalists, and analysts who provide valuable contributions, the challenge is always going to be distinguishing rumor from fact, authoritative from hearsay.”

Tinseth is referring, although not by name, to FlightBlogger’s Friday report that engineers are redesigning part the initial fix for four of the 17 wing box stringers because they did not meet certification margins in computer modeling, and that the redesign could jeopardize the company’s plan to fly the plane by the end of the year. (See my initial post about the report and Boeing’s response here.)

Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, responded Friday with a statement saying, in its entirety: “The design of the side-of-body solution is on track. Installations of the fittings are proceeding well and we are pleased with the progress we are making on this important effort. We continue to be on track to fly the 787 by the end of the year.”

The statement promised a more-detailed update on Wednesday, during Boeing’s third-quarter earnings call.

On Saturday, Tinseth wrote: “As 787 vice president and general manager Scott Fancher put it on Friday, the reports that we’ve had to somehow redesign part of the side-of-body modification solution are ‘off base.'”

Perhaps Fancher said that to Tinseth, but his public statement said nothing about the redesign issue or that FlightBlogger was “off base.”

Tinseth reiterated Saturday that “we remain on track to fly the Dreamliner by the end of the year.”

Finally, to underscore his point about not listening to “second hand news,” he linked to “Rumors,” by Fleetwood Mac.

Given Boeing’s problems with the 787, it’s not surprising that people are willing to believe “rumors” about new delays. In my short time on this beat, I’ve found FlightBlogger, also known as Jon Ostrower, to be a reliable, knowledgeable source of information.

I applaud Boeing for responding quickly to Ostrower’s report, even if they could have been clearer about whether they were redesigning part of the fix. I look forward to learning more Wednesday.

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